Much has been written about Sir Francis Forbes, who was New South Wales' first Chief Justice (1824-1837) and who was also appointed to the office of Chief Justice in Australia. Because it was his responsibility to introduce the rule of law in a colony still preoccupied with the reception and reformation of British convicts, he came into collision with many of the leaders of the limited free society. Although he led a life of scrupulous detachment from the community, he was unsparingly, and wrongly, criticized for favouring the convict class. Those and other criticisms have persisted and been expanded over the years. This study seeks to correct these misconceptions and misinterpretations.

Table of Contents

Foreword - The Honourable A.M. Gleeson, A.C, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
"Dramatis Personae"
Introduction

PART I: THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
CHAPTER 1: "Solus Inter Plurimos"
CHAPTER 2: "A Fief of Admiralty"
CHAPTER 3: "Dissipating Clouds of Error"
CHAPTER 4: "Detained in London"

PART II: THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
CHAPTER 5: "Credit for Good Intentions"
CHAPTER 6: "Lord Chief Justice Abbott at the Horse Guards"
CHAPTER 7: "He Would Not Certify Me If Required"
CHAPTER 8: "We Entered on a New World"
CHAPTER 9: "You Are Chief Justice of Australia?"

Conclusion
Abbreviations
Notes
Index

"Forbes's robust and and independent character was shaped... in his birthplace, Bermuda, where his early legal career flourished, and Newfoundland, of which he became Chief Justice in 1816 at the tender age of 32. His was a colonial career-path par excellence...
Bennett builds a convincing case for the pivotal role of Forbes in laying the foundations of an independent Australian legal system... Forbes's stand against the excesses of vice-regal authority, such as governor Ralph Darling's attempts to control the press, seems all the more lonely across the mists of time. Yet the court he established is now one of the great courts of the democratic world."

-- NSW Bar News, Winter 2002

"[A] handsome hardcover [which] will be essential for research collections and for those with an interest in Australian, Newfoundland and Bermudan legal history in the early 19th century, and could be recommended as a gift for festive occasions... and serious holiday reading..."

-- Law Institute Journal (Vic), May 2002